Labour councillors join Tories to oust SNP in Falkirk

Labour councillors in Falkirk have joined with the local Conservative group to oust the SNP minority administration. The Labour/Tory alliance defeated the SNP by 14 votes to 13.

The decision by Scottish Labour councillors to join with their Conservative counterparts contrasts with their decision in May last year when they opted to reject an offer from the SNP of a power sharing pact.

In May of 2017 the local elections saw the SNP emerge the largest party with twelve councillors. However it was not enough to form a majority administration. The SNP formed a minority administration with support of an independent councillor.

The alliance with the Conservatives is a headache for Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard who has been attempting to paint his party as an anti-Tory radical left wing alternative to the SNP.

Speaking in January this year, Leonard told the BBC that Aberdeen councillors who had been supended from the party after forming an alliance with the Conservatives, would remain suspended. Members of the Labour group on Aberdeen City Council were suspended en masse by former leader Kezia Dugdale after ignoring a party order not to go into administration with the Tories.

Responding to news that Labour had joined with the Tories in Falkirk, SNP MSP Stewart Stevenson tweeted: “Labour prefer Tory rule .. again. In Falkirk as in Aberdeen.”

Party colleague Michael Matheson took aim at Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard, tweeting: “Falkirk Labour Councillors have just joined up with the Tories to oust the minority SNP administration, voting 14 votes to 13. Given the silence of @LabourRichard we can only presume he approves of the Labour/Tory partnership.”

SNP MP Stewart McDonald tweeted: “Labour go into the local elections in England claiming to offer an alternative to the Tories. In Scotland, they give them the keys to town halls whenever they can.”

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I think what you meant to say was “SNP minority councils don’t get to have their own way because… they’re minority councils”.

Nobody has been “ousted”, the simple fact is that the SNP had 75% of the executive committee with only 40% of vote share, it’s ridiculous to think they should have such disproportionate control over any committee, let alone the executive. If it had been stacked any other way the SNP would have been the first to cry foul, yet apparently democracy only suits them when it’s going their way.

The role of chair of the committee isn’t to make decisions, but to ensure the meetings go smoothly, follow the rules etc.; everything is voted upon, and the SNP have fair representation to vote just like everyone else. If they want to pass things they’ll have to make deals or allow amendments, just as you would expect from a *minority* administration.

Ultimately running a minority administration is hard and requires concessions; if the SNP didn’t want to do it then they should have either formed a coalition deal or let someone else do it. But they refused a coalition because again, they wouldn’t make the concessions needed to form one.

At the end of the day the only ones to blame here are the SNP themselves; you can’t run a minority administration and expect majority control, it wouldn’t be democratic, and throwing toys out of the pram screaming “traitors” is even less so. They made their own bed, and are now moaning about having to lie in it.